On the destruction of fish by polluted waters in the Gulf of Mexico

126 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

distinctionfromthose that go in schools and are taken witli thenet,

and

the bottom-fish seem to be

more

^affected

by

thiswaterthan the others,

timbers

of sharks

and

rays, eels

and

catfish are thrown

up

dead onthe beach.

I

am

not aware that there has been any reportof this matter

made

to yourcommission, or

any

attempt

made

attheanalysisof the water,

and

wouldnothave taken the libertyofwriting, save forthefact that the greater part^ofour fishermen are comparativelyilliterate.

My own

opinion is that thestate

and

condition of thewaterarecaused

by some

volcanicaction atthebottom. I

may

be

wrong

in

my

technical

names

of thefish, but ourfish have never been properlyclassified,

and

I give youthe bestI cando.

With

arenewed apologyforthe liberty Ihave taken, 1 remain, most respectfully,

M.

A.

MOORE.

Professor

Bated,

Commissioner of FishandFisheries, Washington, J). C.

4>jV

the DKSTRUtJTION OF FISH

IVY I»OtiHJTEI> \»'ATERS IIV

THE

CJUtiF

OF MEXICO.

By

1¥. €.

W. OJLAZI£R,

Assistant

Surgeon, M. H.

S.

Treasury Department, Office SuPERvisiNa Surgeon-General United States Marine Hospital

Service,

Washington,D. C, December 7,1880.

Sir: Ihavethe honorto transmitherewith copyof aletterreceived

on

the 3d instant from Assistant Surgeon

W.

0.

W.

^Glazier, of this service,

now

on dutyat

Key

West, which ^it

was

thought might be of interest toyou.

Very

respectfully,

JOHK

B.

HAMILTON,

Surgeon- General U. S.MarineHospital Service.

Prof. S. F.

Baird,

Commissioner of Fish andFisheries, Washington, D. C.

United States Marine Hospital

Service,

District of the Gulf, Port of

Ejey

West,

Fla.,

8urgeon''s Office, November 25, 1880.

Sir^: I have the honor to report, as a matter of scientific interest, that it has occurred several times that fishermen returning from the coastof Florida with fish, in an apartment of their boats communica- tingfreely with the surrounding water,have

had them

die suddenly^on reachinga certainkind of waterdistinguishable

by

itscolor. Thishas

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 127

occurred several times,notably about ISGo

aud

iu1878,

when

large luim- bers were thrown outheshoreat

Key

West,luauyof

them

of verylarge size, sothatperhaps allthat

came

within theinfluence of th^ poisoned waterperished sooner orlater.

There is nothing

known

as tothe origin of the poisonous qualitiesof the waters that affect the fish iu this way, but the prevalent opinion seemsto bethatthereis something emptiedinto the bedsof the fresh- watercoursesfromvolcanic or geyser-like springs,

and

thatas soonas thewater thus impregnated reaches the sea itkills everj" living thing that comes underits influence.

It has been reported that several smacks have lost their cargoes within thelast twoweeks,

and

that the waters of

Tampa,

Sarasota,

aud

Charlotte

Harbor

werecoveredwiththousandsofdeadflsh,

and

thatthe stench

was

^sogreat that thevessels wereobligedto keei> freefromthem.

Very

respectfully,

W.

C.

W. GLAZIER,

Assistant Surgeon,

M.

H. S.

The Suegeon-General

U. S.

Marine Hospital

Service,

^yashi)lgton, D. C.

IVOTJES OIVSOIUE FIJiiHEiii FBOiYIHUDSOIV'!!^

BAV.

By TARLETOX II. BEAN.

Two

small collectionsoffishescollected in the Hudson's

Bay

region,

and

received

by

theUnitedStatesNational

Museum

in1880, areworthy of note, because fishesfrom that quarter are rarely addedto

museums

inthe United States,

and

consequently our knowledgeof thefaunais limited.

One

oftheselots embraces the following four species, presented

by Walton Hayden,

esq., from

Moose

Factory.

The numbers

^at the left

of the

name

ofthespecies refer to the

Museum

FishCatalogue.

27782.

Percopsis guttatus Ag.

The

dorsalhas ⁹ to11 developedrays; theanali,7^; ventral8; scales inlateral line47 to48. Seven specimens were obtained.

27783.

Stizostethium

vitreu3I (Mitch.) Jord.

&

^Copeland.

Two young

exami^lesabout_{3J inches}long.

27784.

Acipenser maculosus

LeS.

A youngindividual 44 inches long.

27785.

Uranidea

spilota Cope.

One

specimen measuring4 inches without thetail, whichis wanting.

Vomerine

teeth only. D.ix,18; A. 12^;Y. i, 4.

From

RobertBell,

M.

D., Assistant Directorofthe GeologicalSurvey ofCanada, havejust

come

the followingsixspecies,allof

them

collected at the

mouth

ofKelson River except Coitus lahradoricus,which is from